Mohini Ekadashi

Arjuna said to Shri Krishna, "O Madhusudan! What is the name of the Ekadashi of Shukla Paksha of Vaishakha month and what is the procedure for fasting on it? Please tell me all this in detail."

Krishna said he would repeat a story told by Maharishi Vashishtha to Shri Ramchandraji. Rama had once said, "O Gurusrestha! I have suffered a lot due to separation from Jananandini Sitaji, so how will my sufferings be destroyed? Please tell me some fast which will destroy all my sins and sufferings."

Vashishtha replied, "O Shri Rama! You have asked a very good question. Your intelligence is very sharp and pure. A person becomes pure just by remembering your name. You have asked this very good question in the public interest. I congratulate you." He told him that the Ekadashi of the Shukla Paksha of Vaishakha is called Mohini, that by fasting on it all sins and troubles are destroyed, and that by its power a person is freed from the trap of attachment. Therefore one who is sad and distressed should certainly keep it.

In ancient times a city named Bhadravati stood on the banks of the river Saraswati, ruled by a king named Dyutiman. In that city lived a wealthy Vaishya named Dhanpal, a religious man and a devotee of Narayana, who built many rest-houses, ponds and dharamshalas along the roads for the comfort of travellers. He had five sons, of whom the eldest was very sinful and spent his time gambling. He believed in no one, and spent most of his money on drink and meat. When he did not come to the right path even after much persuasion, his father, brothers and relatives put him out of the house and censured him. He then lived by selling his jewellery and clothes.

When his wealth was gone, the prostitutes and his evil friends left him too. Distressed with hunger and thirst, he turned to theft and lived by stealing at night. Once he was caught, and the soldiers released him because he was a Vaishya's son; caught a second time, they paid him no such regard, but brought him before the king and told him everything. The king imprisoned him, and there by the king's order he was subjected to many tortures, and at last he was ordered expelled from the city. Sorrowing, he left.

Now he filled his stomach by killing animals and birds in the forest. He became a fowler and killed the innocent creatures of the forest with bow and arrow, eating them and selling them. Once, distraught with hunger and thirst, he went in search of food and came to the ashram of Kaundinya Muni.

It was the month of Vaishakha, and Kaundinya Muni had just returned from bathing in the Ganga. A few drops from the sage's wet clothes fell upon the sinner, and by that touch some wisdom came to him. He came near, folded his hands and said, "O Mahatma! I have committed many sins in my life, please tell me some simple and money-free solution to get rid of those sins."

The sage said, "You listen carefully, fast on Ekadashi of Shukla Paksha of Vaishakha month. The name of this Ekadashi is Mohini. By fasting on this, all your sins will be destroyed."

He was overjoyed, and observed the fast of Mohini Ekadashi by the method the sage had given him. By the power of that fast all his sins were destroyed, and at the last he went to Vishnu Loka riding on Garuda.

Whoever keeps this fast, or hears or reads its glory, is released from the net of delusion and attains the abode of Lord Vishnu.